Acclimatization

Today was acclimatization day in namche, complete with Apple turnover, Sherpa movie during a rain storm, and bar in namche bizarre!

Oh, and I saw Everest for the first time, as well as a gorgeous hunk of rock, Ama Doblam.

Roughing it in the Khumba

The Everest region has a style of roughing it that might make me fat even while trekking! I give you the German bakery experience! Thank you, Germans, for loving the Everest region and for loving baked apple goods. :)

Welcome to Thamel. Don't get run over.

I spent day 1 in Nepal in the tourist district of Thamel, a noisy, congested maze of crazy taxis, even crazier motorcyclists, and nearly identical stores and trekking agencies. Thanks to an outdated lonely planet map, I was lost for the first hour, but finally oriented.

I visited the KEEP office, a local non-profit promoting mountain responsibility, and I met friendly trekkers while reading trip reports. I then went to find trekking partners on a variety of message boards in the city and online at trekkingpartners.com. Then, back to KEEP with another question, where I ran into the guy who runs the trekking partners website. He is a cool Canadian and we set off to find a bar I couldn't find earlier w my map, and ended up with a beer, rooftop city view, and two hours of conversation, which was a lovely introduction to Kathmandu for me. Also, I ran into my French pal from the flight, Luk. Although I enjoy staying at the mountain fund and think Thamel during the day is exhausting, it seems to be the place to be, so I will need to stay there after my trek!

Here is my official trekkingpartners.com photo. I'm hoping it looks friendly so I rope some trail pals.

Kathmandu

Today was a big travel day complete with 20 min bus ride in Delhi (terminal 1 to 3 my ass), befriending of French guy on the flight to Kathmandu, and learning that, to land in Nepal one needs to have $200USD in your pocket. I did, but not only does Nepal not exchange traveler's checks, but the airport doesn't exchange Indian rupees even though the 2 countries share a border. What?!

At any rate, I'm currently sitting in the dark with a woman from Slovenia and one from Orange county as the power is out. I'm still glowing at the memory of the extravagance that was my airport coffee shop visit. After 5 weeks of tea and only candy for chocolate, I couldn't hold back. Mmm! :)

Parting shots

Dear Ladakh,

Thanks.

So quickly my volunteer time is up :(

I have been volunteering at a school in Ladakh.  The school has a strong sustainability and self-reliance focus that has re-awakened my interest in this sustainability.  The volunteer experience has been amazing.  I love the students: they are fun, responsible, eager to learn new things, and well aware of their environment.  They also enjoy mocking my accent.

I am teaching typing and Movie Maker in "computer class".  Movie Maker has been such a hit that students who aren't currently taking computer class are coming in during breaks to try the program.  I am excited to see them playing with the menus, using their creative juices, and being interested in how to make the program do what they want.

Aside from computer class, I help with food preservation for winter, cooking, conversation class, and study hall (trigonometry and English).  An example quote from conversation class, to give you an idea of daily life at the school is from the topic "technology pros/cons", speaking of western vs composting toilets: "We use soil in our toilets.  Soil is not as valuable as water."  I must admit the Ladakhi composting toilet I blogged of previously in a joking manner, I have truly come to admire.  Ladakh is a region that is being very quickly developed, so the contrast of modern and traditional is very clear, allowing an easier understanding of the merits of each.

I have also been helping with a car project in which we have stripped a Jeep down to its chassis, and now are using the chassis with all the attached car internals to demonstrate how a car works.  That project is headed by a fellow ME volunteer who specializes in automotive engineering, and my ME pals back in CA will find it ironic, I am sure, that I flew to India to learn how a car works. 

Next stop is Kathmandu, but honestly it's hard to leave this place.  There is something magical about it.  I only go b/c, with 2 hikes planned in Nepal, one of which is 27 days long, I really need to get trekking before mid-December rolls in.  Everest region, you better be impressive...

Ode to puri

Vegan fair inspires
Peanut butter puri dreams:
Indian donut!

The best place to Bike

Ladakh is described by the magazine "India Today" as the best place in India for recreational motorcycling. Here's thinking of you, dad.

US govt shutdown

What the hell US?  I don't like having to explain to the other volunteers (Indians, Singapore citizens, French) why we have enough money to think of bombing Syria but not enough to keep our country running.  Get it together!

A Ladakhi bang trim

On a whim, I ducked into a beauty salon in Leh and asked for a bang trim. The good news is, hair grows back.

Travelling with local women

For the Markha trek I am travelling with women from a local female trekking agency.  One of the women is from the town of Markha, and it seems most people who live along the trekking route are somehow related to her. She often describes a person as her "cousin's brother". Why this isn't also a cousin I am not sure...

Today we ended up having impromptu tea in a hay field (it's harvest time!) with some family member. The women call me a tea pot because I drink so much black tea. What can I say, by my calculations it takes 3 black teas to make 1 coffee!

Seriously both women are hilarious and I love trekking with them. They are teaching me some Ladakhi, giving me grief for being the rich westerner with only one pair of pants, and, because I'm an acheley (older sister!), they have taught me how to say "will you marry me?" in Nepali. Just in case.

Nimaling

Finally, after days of desert hiking, we ascended to big sky country ( my favorite!), as we approached the high camp of Nimaling. At 4200m, the camp is cold, windy, and breathless!  When we arrived we needed salt, and I felt $0.66 for piping hot ramen was money well spent!

Base camp of 6000m+ Kang Yahtze day: snow! I woke after falling asleep with clear skies and milky way to a huge cloud, snow, and no mountain.

Luckily, the "sheep doctor" was visiting the local shepherd to give worm medicine to the flock, so I headed over to see what can only be described as a sheep mob scene/sheep rodeo. Literally hundreds of sheep in a small pen trying to avoid being force fed medicine. In the mood to help, I would corral escapees back into the pen.

Later the same day I felt the sky might clear, so I set off to get a better view of Kang Yahtze. The camp organizer informed me that the weather is often bad the day sometime sets up to climb the peak, as she is a sacred mountain and does not wish to be climbed. With this in mind, as I walked uphill into a graupel storm, I told Kang Yahtze I only wanted photos and not to climb her. And, just as I reached the viewpoint, she emerged!

Markha to Hangkar

After a homestay with my guide's niece in Markha, we headed to Hangkar, where we washed our clothes by hand (less soap, more hands!) and took solar bucket showers. Also, it's harvest time in Ladakh, so I got to witness threshing of wheat, where cows and horses tied together are driven in a circle over the wheat to beak it up so the wheat and chaff can be separated (that's biblical!).  Songs are sung while the animals work, supposedly to keep them from getting dizzy!

Excel, Biogas, volleyball, oh my!

I am currently volunteering at SECMOL (www.secmol.org), and the experience so far is amazing.  The volunteers, the staff, the students are all such great people.  I am teaching EXCEL!, helping with a biogas reactor design, playing volleyball daily with a bunch of competitive 17-yo boys, so that's hilarious, and in general being constantly amazed, humbled, and excited about alternative methods of education. 

I have about 5 posts waiting for good internet/wifi so I can upload pics, but in the meantime, just know I'm off influencing young minds, and having mine influenced also! 

And a side note: Research indicates 100% of Ladakhi teens like Justin Bieber (sp).  Sample size:4.